Former Missouri pastor sentenced in murder-for-hire plot

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. – A Scott County judge has sentenced a former Bloomfield pastor to 50 years in prison for a murder-for-hire plot, but has allowed him to post bond while the case is being appealed.

The Southeast Missourian reports that Donald Lafferty, 71, was sentenced Wednesday in Stoddard County Court to consecutive terms of 15 years for attempted murder, 15 years for arson and 20 years for financial exploitation of the elderly.

Lafferty was convicted in January of hiring Brandi and Christopher Hicks to kill his wife by burning his Bloomfield-area home in 2013.

In a separate incident, Lafferty also was convicted of defrauding his mother of $86,000.

Another 10-year prison sentence for an armed criminal action charge will run concurrently to the other prison terms.

This story was originally published March 15, 2016 at 2:06 PM with the headline "Former Missouri pastor sentenced in murder-for-hire plot."